HEALTH DEAL NEAR? - AT 8:09 A.M. ET:  Supporting our post just below, there's been some apparent progress on health-reform legislation, because the centrists are now being included.  From Fox:

WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of senators is closing in on a health care compromise that omits key Democratic priorities but seeks to hold down costs, as lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol labor to deliver sweeping health legislation to President Barack Obama.

After weeks of secretive talks, three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee were edging closer to a compromise that excludes a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for large businesses to offer coverage to their workers. Nor would there be a provision for a government insurance option, despite Obama's support for such a plan, officials said.

The Finance senators were considering a tax of as much as 35 percent on very high-cost insurance policies, part of an attempt to rein in rapid escalation of costs. Also likely to be included in any deal was creation of a commission charged with slowing the growth of Medicare.

"We're going to get agreement here," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the Finance Committee chairman, said Monday. "The group of six really wants to get to 'yes."'

COMMENT:  Conservatives, if they're smart (not always) should already be planning how they can emphasize to the public their role in shaping responsible legislation, instead of letting Obama take all the credit, which he'll surely try to do. 

Indeed, this could be a major conservative moment if the American voter understands what has been achieved, and, yes, what has been prevented by the actions of the moderate and conservative members of Congress.  Americans are listening, especially on health care.  It is not a sin in politics to toot one's horn, if there's something worth tooting about.

July 28, 2009